August 25
is the 237th day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar (238th in leap years), with 128 days remaining.
*
1537 - The
Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving
regiment in the
British Army, and the second most senior, is formed.
*
1580 -
Battle of Alcantara.
Spain defeats
Portugal.
*
1609 -
Galileo Galilei demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers.
*
1718 -
New Orleans, Louisiana is founded.
*
1758 -
Seven Years' War:
Frederick II of Prussia defeats the
Russian army at the
Battle of Zorndorf.
*
1768 -
James Cook begins his first voyage.
*
1814 -
Washington, D.C. is burned and
White House is destroyed by
British forces during the
War of 1812*
1825 -
Uruguay declares its independence from
Spain.
*
1830 -
Belgium revolts from the
Netherlands*
1835 - The
New York Sun perpetrates the
Great Moon Hoax.
*
1894 -
Shibasaburo Kitasato discovers the infectious agent of the
bubonic plague and publishes his findings in
The Lancet.
*
1900 -
Friedrich Nietzsche dies.
*
1910 -
Yellow Cab is founded.
*
1912 - The
Kuomintang, the Chinese nationalist party, is founded.
*
1916 - The
United States National Park Service is created.
*
1920 -
Polish-Soviet War:
Battle of Warsaw, started on
August 13, now ends. The
Red Army is defeated.
*
1942 -
World War II:
Battle of Milne Bay,
Papua New Guinea*1942 -
World War II: Second day of the
Battle of the Eastern Solomons. A Japanese naval transport convoy headed towards
Guadalcanal is turned-back by
Allied air attack, losing one destroyer and one transport sunk, and one light cruiser heavily damaged.
*
1944 - World War II:
Paris is liberated by the
Allies.
*
1950 - President
Harry Truman orders the US Army to seize control of the nation's railroads to avert a strike.
*
1967 -
American Nazi Party leader
George Lincoln Rockwell is
assassinated in
Arlington, Virginia.
*
1980 - The Broadway musical
42nd Street opens; the show's director,
Gower Champion, had died earlier that day.
*
1988 - The historical center of
Lisbon is destroyed by a fire.
*
1989 -
Tadeusz Mazowiecki chosen as the first non-communist Prime Minister in
Central and
Eastern Europe.
* 1989 -
Voyager 2 spacecraft flies by
Neptune, the last major planet it could visit before leaving the
Solar System.
* 1989 - Mayumi Moriyama becomes
Japan's first female cabinet secretary.
*
1991 -
Linus Torvalds first says in a post to the comp.os.minix
newsgroup that he is working on a new free
computer operating system.
* 1991 -
Belarus declares independence from the
Soviet Union* 1991 -
Michael Schumacher makes his
Formula 1 debut in the
Belgian Grand Prix*
2002 -
ESPN signature show
SportsCenter has their 25,000 episode
*
2003 - The
Tli Cho land claims agreement is signed between the
Dogrib First Nations and the
Canadian federal government in
Rae-Edzo (now called Behchoko).
* 2003 - Fifty-two are killed in two
Islamic terrorist bomb blasts in
Mumbai,
India.
*
2005 -
Hurricane Katrina makes landfall on the Miami-Dade/Broward county line, hours after reaching hurricane strength.
*
1530 - Tsar
Ivan IV of Russia (d.
1584)
*
1561 -
Philippe van Lansberge, Dutch astronomer (d.
1632)
*
1624 -
François de la Chaise, French confessor of
Louis XIV of France (d.
1709)
*
1662 -
John Leverett the Younger, American President of Harvard (d.
1724)
*
1719 -
Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo, French painter (d.
1795)
*
1724 -
George Stubbs, British painter (d.
1806)
*
1744 -
Johann Gottfried Herder, German writer (d.
1803)
*
1767 -
Antoine Louis Léon de Richebourg de Saint-Just, French revolutionary and writer (d.
1794)
*
1772 - King
William I of the Netherlands (d.
1843)
*
1786 - King
Ludwig I of Bavaria (d.
1868)
*
1796 -
James Lick, California land baron (d.
1876)
*
1802 -
Nikolaus Lenau, Austrian poet (d.
1850)
*
1819 -
Allan Pinkerton, American private detective (d.
1884)
*
1836 -
Bret Harte, American writer (d.
1902)
*
1841 -
Emil Kocher, Swiss medical researcher, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d.
1917)
*
1845 - King
Ludwig II of Bavaria (d.
1886)
*
1850 -
Charles Richet, French scientist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d.
1935)
*
1882 -
Sean O'Kelly,
President of Ireland (d.
1966)
*
1893 -
Henry Trendley Dean, American dental researcher (d.
1962)
*
1898 -
Helmut Hasse, German mathematican (d.
1975)
*
1900 - Sir
Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochemist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d.
1981)
*
1902 -
Stefan Wolpe, German-born composer (d.
1972)
*
1903 -
Árpád Élő, Hungarian physicist (d.
1992)
*
1909 -
Ruby Keeler, Canadian singer and actress (d.
1993)
* 1909 -
Michael Rennie, English actor (d.
1971)
*
1912 -
Erich Honecker, head of state of East Germany (d.
1994)
*
1913 -
Walt Kelly, American cartoonist (d.
1973)
*
1916 -
Van Johnson, American actor
* 1916 -
Frederick Chapman Robbins, American pediatrician and virologist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d.
2003)
*
1917 -
Mel Ferrer, American actor
*
1918 -
Leonard Bernstein, American conductor and composer (d.
1990)
* 1918 -
Richard Greene, English actor (d.
1985)
*
1919 -
George Wallace, Governor of Alabama (d.
1998)
*
1921 -
Monty Hall, Canadian-born game show host
* 1921 -
Brian Moore, Irish-born writer (d.
1999)
*
1927 -
Althea Gibson, American tennis player (d.
2003)
*
1928 -
Herbert Kroemer, German-born physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate
* 1928 -
Darrell Johnson, baseball player (d.
2004)
*
1930 - Sir
Sean Connery, Scottish actor
*
1931 -
Regis Philbin, American television host
* 1931 -
Hal Fishman, American news anchor
*
1933 -
Wayne Shorter, American musician
* 1933 -
Tom Skerritt, American actor
*
1935 -
Charles Wright, American poet
*
1938 -
David Canary, American actor
* 1938 -
Frederick Forsyth, English author
*
1939 -
John Badham, American film director
*
1940 -
José Van Dam, Belgian baritone
*
1944 -
Anthony Heald, American actor
*
1946 -
Rollie Fingers, baseball player
*
1947 -
Anne Archer, American actress
*
1949 -
Martin Amis, English novelist
* 1949 -
John Savage, American actor
* 1949 -
Gene Simmons, Israeli-born bassist
*
1951 -
Rob Halford, English singer (
Judas Priest)
*
1952 -
Geoff Downes, English keyboardist (
Buggles,
Yes,
Asia)
*
1952 -
Peter Wolf, American singer and composer
*
1954 -
Elvis Costello, English musician
*
1958 -
Tim Burton, American film director, producer, and screenwriter
*
1961 -
Billy Ray Cyrus, American singer and actor
*
1962 -
David Packer, American actor
*
1964 -
Maxim Kontsevich, Russian mathematician
* 1964 -
Blair Underwood, American actor
*
1965 -
Mia Zapata, American
punk rock singer (
The Gits)
*
1967 -
Jeff Tweedy, American
alt-country singer (
Wilco)
*
1968 -
Rafet El Roman, Turkish singer and composer
* 1968 -
Stuart Murdoch, Scottish musician (
Belle & Sebastian)
* 1968 -
Rachael Ray, American cook and television host
* 1968 -
Spider One, American singer and musician (
Powerman 5000)
*
1969 -
Cameron Mathison, Canadian actor
*
1970 -
Claudia Schiffer, German model
*
1971 -
Mike Lockwood, Professional wrestler (d.
2003)
*
1972 -
Marvin Harrison, American football player
*
1974 -
Eric Millegan, American actor
*
1976 -
Alexander Skarsgård, Swedish actor
*
1978 -
Franck Queudrue, French footballer
*
1978 -
Kel Mitchell, American actor
*
1981 -
Rachel Bilson, American actress
*
1987 -
Stacey Farber, Canadian actress
*1987 -
James Wesolowski, Australian footballer
*
383 -
Gratian,
Roman Emperor (b.
359)
*
471 -
Gennadius I,
Patriarch of Constantinople *
1192 -
Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy (b.
1142)
*
1270 - King
Louis IX of France*
1282 -
Thomas Cantilupe, English saint
*
1330 -
James Douglas, Scottish soldier (b.
1286)
*
1482 -
Margaret of Anjou, queen of
Henry VI of England (b.
1429)
*
1554 -
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, English politician (b.
1473)
*
1632 -
Thomas Dekker, English dramatist
*
1650 -
Richard Crashaw, English poet
*
1688 -
Henry Morgan, Welsh privateer
*
1699 - King
Christian V of Denmark (b.
1646)
*
1711 -
Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey, English politician
*
1742 -
Carlos Seixas, Portuguese composer (b.
1704)
*
1774 -
Niccolò Jommelli, Italian composer (b.
1714)
*
1776 -
David Hume, Scottish philosopher and historian (b.
1711)
*
1792 -
Jacques Cazotte, French writer (b.
1719)
*
1822 -
William Herschel, German-born astronomer (b.
1738)
*
1867 -
Michael Faraday, English scientist (b.
1791)
*
1900 -
Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher (b.
1844)
* 1900 -
Kuroda Kiyotaka,
Prime Minister of Japan (b.
1840)
*
1904 -
Henri Fantin-Latour, French painter (b.
1836)
*
1908 -
Henri Becquerel, French physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1852)
*
1925 -
Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, Austro-Hungarian field marshal (b.
1852)
*
1938 -
Aleksandr Kuprin, Russian writer (b.
1870)
*
1942 -
George Edward Alexander Windsor, Duke of Kent (b.
1902)
*
1945 -
John Birch, American intelligence officer and missionary (b.
1918)
*
1950 -
Earl Caddock, Professional wrestler
*
1967 -
Stanley Bruce, eighth
Prime Minister of Australia (b.
1883)
* 1967 -
Paul Muni, Polish actor (b.
1895)
* 1967 -
George Lincoln Rockwell, American Nazi Party leader (b.
1918)
*
1971 -
Ted Lewis, American musician and entertainer (b.
1890)
*
1976 -
Eyvind Johnson, Swedish writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1900)
*
1979 -
Stan Kenton, American musician and bandleader (b.
1911)
*
1980 -
Gower Champion, American dancer, actor, and choreographer (b.
1919)
*
1984 -
Truman Capote, American author (b.
1924)
* 1984 -
Waite Hoyt, baseball player (b.
1899)
* 1984 -
Viktor Chukarin, Soviet gymnast (b.
1921)
*
1985 -
Samantha Smith, American social activist and actress (plane crash) (b.
1972)
*
1990 -
Morley Callaghan, Canadian writer (b.
1903)
*
2000 -
Carl Barks, American cartoonist (b.
1901)
*
2001 -
Aaliyah, American singer (plane crash) (b.
1979)
*
2002 -
Dorothy Hewett, Australian writer (b.
1923)
*
2005 -
Peter Glotz, German politician (b.
1939)
*
Roman festivals -
Opiconsivia held in honor of
Ops.
*
Roman Catholic Saints -
Genesius of Arles, Saint
Louis IX of France,
Saint Joseph Calasanz*
Uruguay - National Day (independence from Brazil in
1825).
*
Philippines - National Heroes' Day.
*
BBC: On This Day*
Encyclopædia Britannica: This Day in History*
New York Times: On This DayAugust 24 -
August 26 -
July 25 -
September 25 --
listing of all days
